


Something Tragic in the Fallout

by InfamousRowe



Category: Red vs. Blue, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Agender Pidge | Katie Holt, F/F, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, M/M, Multi, carwash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-08-09 18:01:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7811770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InfamousRowe/pseuds/InfamousRowe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Red vs Blue and Voltron crossover. The Paladins receive a distress signal from a planet called Chorus, but it's not the Galra that the people there had been fighting. That may soon change, however.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Free

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Red vs Blue and Voltron crossover. I’m not very good with characterization, grammar, or English in general even though I was born and raised where English is the main language. I apologize for any OOC-ness and would appreciate feedback to try and get these things down. I don’t have a beta reader so all mistakes are my own. The update schedule for this will probably vary - depends on when I'm in the mood to write and how well this is received. This will also include Klance and Tuckington since I’m trash for those pairings. Maybe a little Shklance (I honestly don’t know what that ship name is but I’m a sucker for polyamory). Pre episode 11 of season 1 so everyone is still together. Pidge is agender, asexual, and aromantic. And Hunk is just Hunk. As for the RVB cast, obviously there’s Tuckington, and then a little side Kimballina and Grimmons. There is also going to be CarWash – which if any of you don’t know, is Carolina and Washington as siblings. I’ve given each of the characters my own head-cannons on how they look since I’ll be bringing them out of armor for parts of this story. You guys get to choose what happens to Church – if he’s alive or dead after the attack on the ship at the end of Season 13, Caboose is Caboose, and everyone else is their own people.

It was a usual day in the ship. Allura was piloting, Keith was in the training room, Hunk and Pidge were in the tech room, Lance was asleep, and Shiro was off doing his own thing. The princess startled as the screen in front of her flashed, showing a video of a small, see-through blue person wearing some sort of armor. Coran glanced over when the man began speaking.

“Hi there. You may not know me, but my name is Epsilon. Some time ago, my friends and I were shipwrecked on a planet called Chorus. If you haven’t heard of it, I don’t blame you at all. But, all of us who survived the crash as well as the planet’s inhabitants are in dire need of help. If this is transmitting to your computer, please examine the files that I have attached to this transmission. They include our coordinates, as well as information on the survivors of the crash, who you may recognize as the heroes of the UNSC that went missing during their flight home. Most importantly, however… are the files that prove the undeniable guilt of Malcolm Hargrove. Orchestrating our shipwreck was just one of an impressively long list of crimes the dear Chairman has committed in the past few years. Once we are rescued, we’d be happy to discuss the list in greater detail as well as answer any other questions that you may have, so long as it ensures that Mr. Hargrove never sees the light of day again. Thank you for your time, and please – hurry the fuck up, and just come get us.”

The feed cut off once he was done talking, only pictures remained, and Allura stood there staring for only a few seconds before getting on the speakers. “Paladins, you’re needed in the bay at once. Something strange is going on.” She ended the transmission and looked over to where her friend sat at one of the consoles. “Coran, please make sure that Lance heard the transmission. We’re going to need all their insight to find out what’s going on.”

The mustached man nodded and got out of his seat, heading out of the room as Shiro, Keith, Hunk, and Pidge entered. Shiro was the first to speak up, seeing the princess’s worried expression as well as the pictures on screen. “What’s happened?”

“We’ve just received a distress signal, but it’s not the usual kind.” She replied simply, turning back to the video and continuing. “I shall show it to you all once Coran returns with Lance. I’d like all of your opinions for it.”

The Paladins glanced at one another, obviously concerned since Allura rarely ever needed their consult when there was a planet in need. It only took another minute before Coran arrived with Lance, the Blue Paladin still getting into his clothes. “What’s up?” He asked, heading over to the group and seeing all of their confused gazes fixed on the video that the princess just began replaying. They watched in silence as the speech began all the way until it ended. The five friends looked first at Allura then to each other, still confused. “What the quiznak was that?” Lance called out, seemingly the most puzzled.

Shiro only spared him a glance before moving forward toward their pilot and friend. “Allura, when was this transmitted?”

“Just a few ticks ago. I’ve never seen such far-reaching technology. I looked up the planet while I waited for you guys and it’s quite a distance. And it seems like it was sent everywhere. Possibly even the Galra.”

Everyone stiffened when they heard mention of the Galra. “So, what you’re saying is that it’s possible the Galra will now go to this planet that’s searching for aid, only to enslave them after they got free of a different captor?” Pidge asked, shifting where they stood and finding that all the other Paladins had the same thought on their minds.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying young one. We need to get there before them and help them prepare. Let them know what they’re dealing with and how to stop them. It seems that they’re military is worn thin and they’ll need all the help they can get while they wait for reinforcements.” Allura paused, waiting to see if any of them would object. Of course, they didn’t do any of the sort, all of them ready to help save anyone that they could. “Everyone, get ready. We’re heading to Chorus.” She turned, punching in the coordinates before stepping back to let the palace do its thing. “You should all get some rest. It’ll take a few ticks to get there and you need to be prepared for anything.”  
____________

Meanwhile, on Chorus, everyone celebrated the Chairman’s defeat. Once everyone returned safely from the Staff of Charon, Caboose said the one thing everyone else hadn’t realized. They hadn’t heard from Church since the attack on the ship. Only then did they see the pre-recorded speech from the man himself.

“Hey guys. If you’re hearing this, it means you did it. You won. You kicked the shit out of Hargrove’s forces. I knew you could. But this is my last stop. See when I came into this world I was really just a collection of somebody else’s memories. But with your help, these memories they… they took form. They became my voice, my personality. And after a while I began to make brand new memories of my own. All of these things are what make me who I am. But they’re also holding me back. I can’t run this suit as Epsilon. But if I erase my memories, if I deconstruct myself, the fragments I leave behind will have the strength to get you through this, I believe that. I wish there was another way, but I’m leaving this message as well as others in the hopes that you’ll understand why I have to go this time. It was… it was actually Doyle who made me realize something I never thought of before. There are so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day, and because of their sacrifice the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after. But the hero never gets to see that ending. They’ll never know if their sacrifice actually made a difference. They’ll never know if the day was really saved. In the end, they just have to have faith. Ain’t that a bitch?”

The first sound they all heard after the speech was Caboose. “Church isn’t coming home?” He asked quietly, voice ladled with sadness.

Washington made his way over to the other man, gently laying a hand on his shoulder. “Caboose… He did what he had to – to save everyone. He sacrificed himself to save everyone that was in that room.” The grey and yellow soldier glanced to where the other member of the Blue team was. Tucker came over to Caboose as well, patting his shoulder, though he didn’t say a word. It hurt. One of his best friends was gone. And this time, it seemed he wasn’t coming back. Washington stood there with his teammates; all of them quiet as the Reds headed out of the room, giving each of them a sad look on their way out. After a while, the only people in the room were the Blue team, Carolina, and Kimball.

Carolina was angry. Her fists were balled up on her sides, glaring at the floor. She felt a hand on her shoulder after a few moments and looked up to see Kimball by her side, her fists loosening their grip at the look on the other woman’s face. “He saved everyone on this planet, Carolina. He went down as a hero, so let’s make sure that this lasts, shall we? We can’t let his sacrifice mean nothing. We need to get the Chairman to the authorities and then we need to start rebuilding here. Whether or not you stay for that part is your choice.” Kimball gave her a soft smile; her brown eyes looking directly into Carolina’s own green ones. The ex New Republic leader let go of the red-haired woman’s shoulder after a moment. “I’ll be in my office if you need anything.”

The Blue team turned to Carolina once Kimball was gone, Washington the first one to go over to her. “We’ll figure everything out, Carolina. Together.” His own green eyes gave her hope and she nodded, thanking her younger brother. The blond-dyed man went back to his team once he was sure Carolina would be okay, helping Tucker to get Caboose to leave the room.

All of the soldiers that had worked together for this end were either walking the halls, putting guns and other things away, or back in their barracks getting rest. Both Blood Gulch teams regrouped in an open field after a few minutes had passed and they had calmed Caboose enough that he wasn’t just repeating the same words – _that Church is gone. He’s not coming back this time, is he? Freckles, where’s Church? Is he okay?_ – his two teammates had felt their hearts break a bit more from that. Luckily, it seemed the larger man would be able to cope, with the help of everyone around him at least.

“How’s everything?” Donut asks once they’ve all reconvened, his light blue eyes shining with sadness as well. “Is Caboose going to be okay?” He asks Wash, glancing to the dark haired man in question who was over talking to Sarge and Simmons.

“I’m not sure. He’ll need time. We all will. It’ll be easier on him with everyone to help. You guys as well as us, and the kids. Jensen, Palomo, Bitters, Matthews, and Andersmith. I think they’ll be a big help to him.”

The pink clad man nodded, his shoulders relaxing just a tad. “We’ll do everything we can to help.

“Thank you, Donut. Thank the team for me as well.” Wash headed to where Tucker was, looking at the dark skinned man. “How are you holding up? It must’ve been just as hard for you as it was for Caboose.”

Tucker sighed, rubbing his face slightly. “He’s died before, man. Like – a lot. How do we know for sure he isn’t coming back?”

Washington turned his eyes to the floor for a moment before returning them to Tuckers own dark ones. “He fragmented, Tucker. I don’t think there’s a way to come back from that.”  
“Well, Alpha, or whatever it was called, fragmented. Church was him, wasn’t he? He came back from it like that, right?”

“That’s not exactly what happened,” he shook his head, placing his hand on the back of his neck, unsure of how to best explain it. “Last time, Alpha was split by the Director. He created those fragments from being tortured. Epsilon was one of those pieces – and Church was Epsilon. This time, though, Church fragmented himself. It’s almost fragments of a fragment. It hasn’t happened before.”

“You’re not saying that it’s not possible, though.” The younger man replied, determined.

“True, I’m not. But it’s not something we have an understanding of. He could still be alive and floating in space somewhere, or he could be… gone.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Caboose, the taller male looking between them. “Are you guys talking about me?”

Washington sighed, shaking his head. “No, Caboose. We were just talking. We should all head back to our barracks. Try to get some rest. We’ll have a busy day tomorrow.” He said this out loud to everyone near them, the Red team included.

“You heard ‘em boy’s. Let’s head off.” Sarge called out, clapping Simmons hard on the back before walking off towards their barracks. The rest of Red team followed behind, only Donut lingering to watch the Blue’s for a moment more before leaving as well.

Tucker could only nod at that, placing a hand on Caboose’s shoulder to lead him to their destination. Washington followed behind, taking his time so he could cool his head off.


	2. The Castle

Pidge was amazed. That was the simplest way to explain how they felt about the technology used to send out the signal. They had tried – and failed – to replicate the transmission. They couldn’t understand how a planet that seemed so remote as to ask for any and all assistance could have that kind of tech. “Allura, you said that you’ve never something that reached that far before, correct? Even in Altea?”

“That is correct, Pidge. Altea had quite the scientific knowledge itself but nothing like this. We were able to reach far distances, but only in a specific part of space. This – this went everywhere. From one end of a galaxy to the next; anywhere that had technology capable of receiving the call.”

The smallest Paladin nodded, re-watching the video to try and get a sense of what the planet was like. The ones who had sent it seemed like they could be the good guys that had been stuck in a war. One thing that the team had learned in their expeditions, however, was that they had to be cautious of those who seemed to be in trouble. “How much longer until we arrive?”

“Not much. Could you go wake everyone? I don’t want to wake them with the alarm since it’ll still be a little bit before we enter the atmosphere. I want them to be prepared for when we touch down, though.”

They nodded and hopped off their seat, heading out of the control room and down the hall to start waking everyone else. Once all the Paladins were awake and in their gear, they each took a seat at one of the consoles, sitting while they waited for the castle to enter the atmosphere.

___________

“It’s a floating castle,” the soldier pointed up to the sky, their face hidden behind their helmet.

“It’s not floating. It’s landing.” Another squeaked, running off to find Kimball.

It only took a few minutes before the whole Blood Gulch crew as well as the ex Freelancers, and Kimball were all outside, staring up at the sky to try and determine what was coming down to their planet.

“It could be a rescue team.” Donut piped up, always hopeful. “I mean, if they were bad guys, they would’ve shot at the planet, right?”

Washington sighed, looking over at the blond man. “Not necessarily true. They could be using a ruse to get closer to the ground before beginning to wipe everyone out. Or, as you said, it could be a rescue team. We won’t know until they get close enough to send up a communication. Since we’re not at the tower, we’ll have to use what we have. And what we have isn’t the best.”

“He’s right. Everyone, get in gear. We have to prepare for the worst. I’m just hoping it won’t come to that.” Kimball called out, heading back into her office so she could get on the speakers and let everyone in the base know the same thing.

Carolina and Washington stood where they were, watching the ship as the rest of the group went off to get their gear on. “What do you think?” The younger sibling asked, looking over to his sister to get a read on what her theory was.

“I don’t know yet,” she confessed, turning her gaze onto Wash. “But we need to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.” The redhead went on her way after that, heading off to do just that.

“As always.” Washington murmured to himself, taking another moment before he too went to get ready.

It didn’t take long for Kimball to call everyone in to her office once they were all in gear. She too had changed, now adorning her usual tan and blue armor. “Alright, everyone. Get ready, I’m about to set up communications with the ship – castle – whatever it is.” The woman gave a nod to the soldier sitting in the communications seat, to which they started typing. It only took a few moments before a screen flashed in front of them, showing static.

___________

“Princess, there’s a request for communication being sent up.” Coran called out to his ward, fingers hovering over the keyboard.

“Wait just a moment, Coran.” She turned to the Paladins. “I would like you all on standby. If I can’t gain their trust, I’d like you all to come into the picture. I just hope it doesn’t look like I’m trying to show off captives or something if it comes to that.”

“Don’t worry, Allura,” Shiro stood up. “It won’t come to that. We all know you; you’re one of the best at communicating with others. They’ll understand that we’re here to help.”

She smiled at his assurance. “Thank you. But, please, just in case.” The dark skinned woman looked to her friends and got nods in response. “Alright, Coran, patch them through.”

The screen flickered, clearing up after a moment. Allura was then met with a video feed of a room full of people wearing different colored armor. She was about to speak when a woman’s voice came through their system.

“My name is Vanessa Kimball. I’m the leader of a group of soldiers who had fought a hard war for this planets safety. Now, I’d like to know whether or not you’re here to help keep the peace or to destroy it.”

Allura was silent for only a second before responding. “My name is Princess Allura from the planet Altea. I’m certain you’ve never heard of it before but my Paladins and I received your distress call. We’re here to help.”

“I’d like to believe that,” the woman – no, Vanessa, responded. “But it would help if I knew for certain that you were telling the truth.”

The Princess looked off screen to her friends, giving them a nod. They each stepped forward into the picture. “We are the pilots of Voltron. It’s Paladins.” None of the people on the other end of the screen seemed to understand what that meant, just by their body language – which was hard enough to read underneath the armor.

“That doesn’t tell me anything. Other than the fact that you’ve got five kids with you.” Vanessa responded. “Here with me, are the heroes of this war, the Reds and Blues, as well as the ex-Freelancers Agents Washington and Carolina.” There was no recognition from the people on the other end for them as well.

“I see that neither of us have heard of the other. Now, I hope that what I’m going to tell you won’t set you on edge.” Allura paused, looking to her friends. “These five ‘kids’ are the pilots of the 100 meter tall robot warrior composed of five lion mechas known as the legendary ‘Defender of the Universe’ Voltron. Now, if we were here to hurt you, we wouldn’t have come this close with my castle. We would have sent our Paladins down in their lions.”

Vanessa was silent on the other end, turning just slightly to the people behind her before responding. “We will meet you with away from base camp. If you are, in any way, here to hurt us, we will retaliate with our full force. Leave your lions and meet us as you are, and we too will come without armor.”

“Kimball, you can’t be serious about meeting them without our armor.” One of the room’s occupants called out, their cyan armor standing out.

“I am, Agent Carolina.” She turned back to the screen. “We will come with our weapons but we will not draw them if you do not.”

Allura nodded in understanding. “We will land a safe distance away. You can message us coordinates on where to meet.”

The feed cut off then and the Paladins let out a breath. “They sure aren’t trusting.” Lance pointed out the obvious, moving away from the group and back to his original seat.

“It’s only natural, Lance.” The Princess replied, sighing. “Wouldn’t you be as well if you had just come out of a war? Unsure if someone would be trying to attack you again while you were trying to rebuild what you had lost?”

Lance went quiet at that, turning to look out the window, showing the planet beneath them. “I guess you’re right.”

Shiro and the rest of the Paladins moved back to their seats as well, waiting the last few minutes until the castle touched down.

___________

The whole base watched as the castle landed a fair distance away and Kimball sighed in relief. “Now to decide on who’s going.”

“Let us go. Your soldiers have gone through a lot, Kimball.” Carolina replied, though she didn’t like the idea of leaving their armor behind. “Wash, a few of the Reds and Blues, and I can make contact.”

“I’ll be coming with you, of course.” The woman replied instantly. “I was the one they talked to over the call, they’ll be expecting me.”

“You’re needed here, Kimball. You need to make sure everything stays in order. Do you really trust anyone else with that?”

The leader took off her helmet as she sighed. “I suppose you’re right,” she paused, looking at Carolina. “Keep an open communication channel with me. If they ask where I am, give them access to it and I’ll talk to them from here.”

The cyan soldier nodded, taking off her own helmet before turning to the rest of the group. “Alright. Who’s up for a road trip?”

They sent the castle the coordinates of where to meet while the ones who would be going got changed. In the end, Tucker, Caboose, Simmons, Grif, Wash, and Carolina reconvened on the outskirts of the base on the side where they would be heading.

“I thought you didn’t want to come, Grif.” Carolina said upon seeing the Hawaiian man.

“I don’t. I mean, who wants to be moving when there’s a better alternative-“ he paused only long enough for everyone to glance at him- “sleeping.” The man sighed, imagining just that. “But Sarge said that if I didn’t come, he’d hunt me down. I don’t want to be running from him all day.”

Simmons groaned, rolling his eyes. “Come on, man. We might be meeting the people who are going to be helping us out. That will mean less work in the end, right? You like that, don’t you?”

Grif perked up a bit at the prospect of less work. “That is true. I guess this won’t be a waste, then.”

Carolina just shrugged. “In any case, does everyone have their weapons?” They all nodded, though only Tucker was the one to show his off. Of course, he decided to bring his energy sword. They also heard an ‘affirmative’ coming from Caboose’s direction, to which they mostly ignored.

“Alright, everyone stay together. Let’s head out.” The redhead took lead with Wash and the rest of them following behind.

___________

Once they received the coordinates, the Paladins headed out along with Allura while Coran stayed behind to keep an eye on the castle.

“So, we’re not trustworthy in their eyes, so why are we trusting them?” Keith asked as they all walked, glancing around at his friends.

“We’re not. At least not completely.” Allura responded, patting her hip where her weapon was stored. “You all have your weapons with you, correct?” They each nodded. “Then we should be okay. They said they wouldn’t be wearing their armor so even if they do have their weapons, we’ll be on even playing fields.”

They followed the Princess’s device to the location, standing on the spot of the coordinates. “Alright, they should be here soon. Everyone, keep your eyes open. We don’t want to get ambushed.” Shiro told the rest of the group as they waited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, so I'm not sure if everyone saw last chapter but I've decided to keep Church's end up to you. If a majority think that he should be alive, I'll bring him in. On the other hand, if you think he should remain fragmented, I'll keep it that way. As for another issue, I'm not sure if I should have the relationships develop in this story or have them already exist. It'd be a bit easier to do the latter but if you guys want them to be developed, I'll do my best. For characters, it's a bit hard to bring everyone in and have interactions so some people may be missing from some chapters every now and then (for this one it's obviously Hunk - I love him and everything though so I'll try and bring him in next chapter). And lastly, thank you to all who commented, bookmarked, and left kudos. I'm so happy to see my story is doing well so far. If any of you have any concerns or think that some part needs to be changed, give me a heads up and I'll go back and try to fix any mistakes.


	3. Trust is Earned

Everyone was cautious, keeping an eye on each other’s blind spots. It was their first meeting with another group following the war after all. The group of six approached the meeting area, glancing at it from a distance.

Carolina stopped everyone where they were. “Alright, guys, we need to keep our guards up just in case. Keep one another’s backs. We don’t want to get ambushed while wishing for the best.” She counted everyone with them and froze. “Where’s Caboose?”

“He’s over there,” Grif pointed lazily toward the meeting area yards away. “He ran off while you were talkin’ to us.”

“Wash! Why didn’t you stop him?” The redhead looked to her sibling, to which the blond sighed.

“You know none of us can keep him from doing something he wants to do. Plus, it looks like everything’s okay so far.” He nodded his head to tell her to look back to where the blue clad man was.

She groaned quietly, turning fully to face the direction they needed to head toward. “He’s lucky, then.” The group followed as she made her way toward where Caboose and the other group were.

“Hey Carolina!” The energetic tan man chirped, smiling widely. “These are my new friends! They said they’re the Padawans of Boltrun.” He looked to the Paladins, still grinning happily.

“Paladins of Voltron, actually. But close enough.” Shiro replied, returning his smile, though his was smaller.

“Right, that’s what I said.” Caboose ran over to his group, next to Wash.

“Sorry for the confusion,” Allura stepped forward, standing tall. “My name is Princess Allura–”

“Of Altea. Yeah, I remember.” Carolina cut in, moving closer. “I was with Kimball while she spoke to you and your group. You said you received our distress call, correct?”

“Yes, we did. We were in the galaxy over when it came in on our transmissions. Now, normally, we help to free planets enslaved by the Galra–”

Again, the leader of the soldier’s group cut her off. “Who – or what – are the Galra?”

“I was just getting to that.” She replied with a slight glare, obviously getting slightly annoyed that the redhead kept interrupting her. Hunk placed a hand on her shoulder and she relaxed instantly, giving him a thankful smile. “As I was saying; we help to free planets enslaved by the Galra. They are an alien race that is seeking to destroy everything. The Galra destroyed my home planet, Altea, ten thousand years ago. Only my guardian and I escaped. We were put in stasis and were only awoken recently by the Paladins you see here.”

Washington stepped up next to his sister, gripping her arm to let her know he would take over. She may be a better leader, but he was better with dealing with other people after being with the Blues for so long. “What do the Galra have to do with us, then?” He asked gently, looking at the Paladins. The blond was sad to see that they were all practically teens. War had consumed so much.

“We’re afraid that your distress signal was sent to them as well as every living being in the known universe.” The Princess replied, glad to have someone that she could talk to easier. “It was powerful enough to be sent to us in another galaxy, so it’s possible that it was sent to any and all Galra in any close proximity. They may even be on their way here now to try and enslave this planet; to use it for whatever resources it may have and to take prisoners or kill whoever is in their way.”

“And we want to help you guys stop them.” Hunk added, looking to his friends who all nodded in agreement. “Now, I know we said that we believe that the signal was sent to them, but it’s a possibility, it wasn’t. In any case, we’re here to do our best and help out where we can. And if they so happen to come and attack, we’ll be here to defend alongside you.”

“We’d like permission to come to where you guys have your stronghold to talk about how we can help.” Shiro continued on, glancing at each of the people across from him. “Now, if you still don’t trust us, that’s fine. But we’re not here to hurt you; we’re here to keep the people of this planet safe from the Galra.”

Washington took a moment to let the information seep in. “May we have a moment to discuss things?” He asked politely, glancing to the team behind him and Carolina.

“Of course. We’ll back just around the corner, waiting for your answer.” Allura nodded to the Paladins and they made their way to the edge of the area, far enough not to hear.

“Wash, you can’t seriously be thinking about letting them into the base, can you?” Carolina turned to her brother, glaring at him a bit. “We still don’t know anything about them–”

“I’m not saying I trust them, ‘Lina, but they didn’t hurt Caboose when he ran over here by himself. And Freckles didn’t diagnose them as enemies.”

“Affirmative, Agent Washington,” the gun replied mechanically, to which Caboose shushed him.

She was quiet for a few moments, looking at each of their friends’ faces for reactions. “What do you guys think?”

Tucker was first to reply. “I think Wash is right. We all trust him, and if he thinks that they’re okay, then we should believe it. We can always keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t do anything weird.”

“We can each guard one,” Simmons piped up, shifting where he stood when all eyes turned to him. “Well, I mean, we equal out, so why not?”

Carolina crossed her arms and took one last look at each of them before nodding. “Alright, fine.” She paused, looking at her younger brother entirely. “But I decide who’s guarding who. I’ll take their leader, the ‘Princess’. Wash, you keep an eye the one with the scar on his face.” The redhead turned once more to the team. “Simmons, you guard the smallest one; Grif you watch over the big guy. Caboose, you take the skinny kid and Tucker, you get the mullet one.”

“And if they have another person with them?” Wash asked, looking to his sister to see if she had a plan.

“We’ll figure things out. We always manage.” She replied simply, giving him a small, reassuring smile.

Washington nodded, knowing she was right. They had managed thus far, even though they have the scars to show how much they went through along the way.

The siblings headed the front with everyone following behind as usual, and then made their way over to the Paladins. Wash stepped forward, once again the one to speak. “We’ve decided to let you come with us. But we’re going to be keeping an eye on you until we know for sure that you’re only here to help.”

“I understand,” the dark skinned woman responded, smiling. “Do each of us have our own escorts, then? Because my guardian is back in our ship awaiting our news.”

“Yes, you do.” He turned to Carolina to see what she would do with the information about another person.

“May we come with you? To get a look at your… castle?” The older sibling asked the group in front of her, hoping to get a sense of whether or not the last person was dangerous enough to need their own guard or if she or one of the others could manage two people.

“Of course. We can take you back to your base as well if you’d like. Or we can leave the ship where it is and just follow you back.” Allura responded, feeling more confident now that the soldiers had agreed.

The blond man shook his head slightly. “I think leaving your castle where it is would be the best course of action for now. Once we’re certain of your intents, then you might be able to move it closer. We aren’t the only ones in the base after all and we’d rather not spark a panic with a flying castle.”

“We’ll do our best to keep the peace, but you should let your soldiers know the possibility of the Galra coming.” Shiro looked at the taller man, noticing the many scars littering his freckled face.

“We’ll let them know when we know for sure that we’ll be dealing with them. We’d like to keep them in their happy places for as long as we can. Most of them are still just kids, like you all. They’ve gone through quite a bit and we’d like for them to have a moment of rest when at all possible.”

The black and white haired man nodded in understanding. “It’s hard fighting a war. We haven’t been Paladins for long, but we try our hardest to save the people of each planet. And that’s what we’ll do here as well. Whether or not the Galra show up.”

Carolina stepped forward then, interrupting their conversation. “We should hurry. Kimball wants us to report in as soon as we can. I’d like to do that from your ship if that’s alright.”

“Right, yes. Follow me,” Allura led the way back to the castle, the Paladins beside and right behind her, while the ex-Freelancers and friends were a few paces behind.

When they got to the ship, Allura typed in a code on the side and the large hanger door opened, a ramp extending to allow them to walk in. Their group entered first; with Hunk hanging back to make sure the group they had just met would feel invited. “You know, we really are here to help. We’re not about to go hurting anyone unless you hurt us. Even then, we’ll probably just leave the planet and help you keep out of Galra control from the sky.” He told the soldiers as they made their way to the door.

“From what I’ve seen of you all so far, I’d like to believe that. But you can never be too careful. I’m sure you have met people who you couldn’t trust when you had been hoping you could.”

Hunk hung his head, remembering Rolo and Nyma. Back then, he had had a feeling that they couldn’t be trusted, which had ended up being true. This time, however, he had no such feelings. He felt he could trust the people in front of them; that they were the good guys as well. They had just been through so much and no longer knew whom to trust. “I can tell you guys are like us. You fight for others, to protect them and to keep them safe. We haven’t been at this nearly as long as you have, obviously, but I know when I can trust my instincts. And my instincts say I can rely on you if something happens.”

“You seem to have good instincts-“ Wash trailed off, realizing he didn’t know any of their names.

“Oh, Hunk. My name is Hunk. We’ll all introduce ourselves inside. Come on in.” He smiled at them and went through the door, hearing everyone else follow.

The members from the Reds and Blues that came with Wash and Carolina looked around the castle as they walked through the halls, eyes wide at the technology around them.

“This reminds me of one of the temples,” Tucker murmured in disbelief, surprised at how large the place seemed.

“I’d love to get a look at the weapons they have aboard if they’re as advanced at this.” Carolina responded quietly, hoping none of the Paladins heard.

“Nothing is as good as my sword.” The dark skinned man responded easily, proud of the energy sword on his hip.

Wash rolled his eyes, staying silent as he glanced around each area they went through. He made sure to remember the layout, not wanting to potentially get lost.

When they finally arrived in the main control area, they converged in the middle, Hunk making his way over to his friends while the other group stood opposite them.

“Would you mind if I send a transmission to Kimball before we start with introductions or anything else?” Carolina asked from where she stood, prepared to do just that.

“Go ahead. We’ll wait.” Allura responded with a smile, though it felt forced for the redhead.

The ex-Freelancer took out her device and put in Kimball’s number and sending a message along the line to let her know that they had met the Paladins and were getting everything set to come back to base camp on foot. After it was sent, she nodded to her brother, who took the lead talking once again.

“Sorry for all the precautions but as I said before, you can never be too careful. Now, we’d like to introduce ourselves, and to hear your names as well in order to know who we’re going to be getting help from.” He took a step back and started at one end of the group he was with. “My name is Washington. I go by Wash mostly but you can call me whichever.” Wash moved to press a gentle hand to the redheads arm next to him. “This is my older sister, Carolina. She’s an ex-Freelancer like I am. I’m sure you don’t know what that is so all additional information will be given back at base. For now it’s just introductions.” He moved on to the larger blue clad man next to her. “This is the guy you first met. His name is Caboose.”

“Hi, friends!” Caboose interrupted Wash, waving to the other group. “Freckles, say hi to our new friends.” He glanced to his weapon, which responded with – “Greetings–” in a monotone voice.

The Paladins stared only long enough for Wash to continue on to the brown haired man next to Caboose. “Next is Tucker.”

“Bow-chicka-bow-wow.” He winked at the group.

Washington only sighed in response, going to the cyborg next. “Simmons is our resident cyborg.” He took another step to the Hawaiian man. “And last is Grif, the laziest guy on base.”

“And proud of the fact.” He responded nonchalantly, shrugging in indifference.

The Paladins took a moment to remember their names before Allura stepped forward. “It’s nice to meet you all. I’ll do the introductions for our side.” She smiled softly. “As you know, my name is Allura,” the woman looked to the mustached man next to her. “This is my guardian Coran, he’s been with me all my life.” The Princess moved to the prosthetic enhanced man next. “This is Shiro, he’s the leader of the Paladins.” She went next to the large man beside him. “Hunk here is a softy. He’s sweet and is a great friend.”

Hunk smiled warmly at Allura, feeling warm from her compliment.

The dark skinned woman moved to the confident man who was attempting to show off muscles he didn’t really have. “This is Lance, as always trying to impress.” She took a step to the next guy, the one with the mullet. “Keith is strong-headed but loyal. And last but not least,” the Princess went over to the smallest of the group, “is Pidge, our resident tech enthusiast. They don’t have a gender so don’t try to assign them one.”

The soldiers nodded and Carolina moved to the front again. “Alright, now that introductions are done, we should head back to base camp. Kimball has set up a room where we can all talk and not get in the way of the rest of the soldiers.”

Shiro and the rest moved to get their things ready while Allura stayed behind with the other group. “Thank you again for letting us come to your base camp. I know it must be hard to let us since you still don’t fully trust us.”

“That’s for damn sure.” Carolina replied, crossing her arms. “It’s only with Wash’s suggestion that we’re allowing this.”

“You must really trust your brother.” The Princess acknowledged, smiling at the both of them.

“Is that your way of telling me that I shouldn’t?” She asked icily, narrowing her eyes.

The other woman’s eyes widened. “Oh no, no! I didn’t mean it like that at all. I was merely stating what I observed.” She responded, hoping that she didn’t just get them kicked off the planet.

Washington stepped over to his sister, letting a placating hand set on her shoulder again. “I’ll take responsibility is something were to happen. But I have a feeling we can trust them.”

The ginger haired woman relaxed slightly, but not because of her brother’s reassurance to take responsibility. She trusted him and his instincts after all.

“Alright, we’ll wait outside of the castle for you and your friends. Don’t forget that we’ll be watching over you for a time so you’d better get used to our presence.” Carolina turned then and headed back the way they came, a few of the others following. Only Wash and Tucker remained.

“I hope I’m putting my trust in the right people.” The blond spoke quietly to Tucker, placing a gentle hand on his upper arm.

“We all trust your instincts; you should too.” He smiled softly at the taller man, laying his own hand on top of Wash’s for a moment before realizing what he was doing and pulling it back. “Come on, let’s get to the others.”

They only had to wait another minute before the Paladins were outside along with Coran and Allura. “Would we be allowed to try and upgrade a few items in your camp in order to detect the Galra?” Pidge asked as they walked with the soldiers back to their camp.

“We’ll have to see. I’m not sure if our technology will be able to handle it or not. Maybe if we get something from one of the temples on the planet to interface it with, but we’ll have to check with Kimball first off.” Wash answered, glancing to the smallest of the group.

Pidge nodded slightly, going quiet as they thought of different ways to improve facilities in order to help. They paused in their thoughts, glancing to their new acquaintances. “Wait, how were you able to send such a signal if you guys don’t have the technology?”

“It’s true that we don’t have the technology at base camp. This planet used to have some other species living on it, however, and they left their imprints. They had advanced communications’ systems, among other things, that we were able to use to get our message out. Without that, we would have been stuck here on this planet, fighting a war that didn’t need to be fought, for a very long time.”

“And what about the one who was in the message?” They asked, wondering where the glowing blue guy was.

Wash went silent at that, as did the rest of the soldiers around them. “He – Epsilon – Church, he’s gone. He sacrificed himself to save us.” He glanced at Caboose and Tucker, hoping they were going to be okay with the reminder that their friend was gone.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” They responded, frowning. “I lost my dad and brother to the Galra. Well, I don’t know if they’re dead or if they’re still being held captive. Either way, they’ve been gone for a while and I’ve been searching for them. My friends have helped me to keep my wits about me. To not just go off and get myself killed trying to find them.” Pidge paused, shifting a bit. “What I’m trying to say is that I think I know how it feels.”

The blond turned to give them a weak smile. “It’s alright, Pidge. I’m sorry to hear about your family. You’ll find them; I know you will. With the help of your friends, I believe anything is possible for you all.”

They walked in silence for the rest of the way, just getting used to each other’s company since they figured they’d be spending quite a bit of time together in the coming days or even weeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, so letting you all know... I'm super awkward with writing relationships. I, myself, am an aro ace so I'm able to write Pidge no problem. But with everything else, it may seem a little stunted and awkward once it comes around to it. Also, I feel that there is so much OOC-ness in this chapter. I hope it's not as bad as I think it is. If any of you find something that seems weird for a character or think something should be changed, let me know. I like all the feedback I can get. As for Church, since I haven't really gotten any yes or no's on him yet, I'll try to keep him out of the story until the last minute. And one last thing, would you guys like longer chapters? So far they've been on the 2,000 wording side each time but if you guys want them longer, I can try my best. They'd just take a bit more time to write. That's about it. Thanks to everyone who's left comments, kudos, and who've bookmarked. And anyone who has read it. I love you all <3


	4. Strategies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the longer wait. I’ve been dealing with some stuff and wanted to take a short break. I’ll be starting my college courses next week so the updates will probably slow a bit then as well. Hope you all don’t mind. The length is about the usual that it's been - 2k or so. Since my updates will probably be spread out further, I'll try for longer chapters to make up for the waits from now on. Can't promise anything, though. And as always, let me know if anything seems OOC or just doesn't sound right.

The compound went silent, everyone staring at the group returning with extra people. They watched as they passed, all hoping for the best. Some were smiling, thinking that they would soon be done with the war and would be heading home. And some might. The hurt mainly, or the ones who were just done fighting the war. Or even the whole planet. After all, this next fight wasn’t going to be theirs unless they agreed on it.

Carolina led everyone to the room that had been set up, everyone positioning themselves next to the one they were supposed to keep an eye on while Kimball moved to the front of the room. “I’m sorry to treat you all like this, but I’m sure you understand. In times like these, we have to be careful with everyone. Now, I was briefed on the situation while you were on your way here, but do any of you have any questions?”

Pidge perked up, nodding quickly. “Yes! I know that Wash–” they paused, looking to the man– “can I call you that?” He nodded his consent and the small genius continued. “Wash said that we might be able to upgrade some of your tech in order to try and detect the Galra. Now, we’re able to detect them from the castle, but since we’ll be here, it’ll be worthwhile to do the same in the basecamp.”

“As long as that’s what the tech is for, then yes, you may try. I can’t guarantee that it’ll work, however.” Kimball replied softly, looking at the – oh damn – the kid.

“I’ll work around whatever system you have. I’ll just need time and equipment.” They glanced around at the others in the room. “And someone to help out if that’s okay. Could be from the Paladins or from your crew. Either way, it’d be wonderful to have someone at all.”

The woman nodded. “Of course. Whoever is guarding you right now can help. And if you still need more, you can pick one of your comrades and their escort to help, though try not to keep them too long since I’ll be needing each and every one of them to help with debriefing more on who and what the Galra is.”

“Sure thing. Mind if I start now? I mean, I’m always up for messing with – uh, I mean, upgrading systems.” Pidge fidgeted slightly, hoping their mess-up wouldn’t cost them a chance at the controls.

Kimball only chuckled softly, smiling at them. “Go right ahead. But try not to leave behind Simmons behind. I’m sure he’ll be quite helpful, he’s pretty handy with mechanics at times.”

The two left after that, heading to the main control area to try and get the system up and running to detect what was needed. Meanwhile, the rest stayed in the room and Kimball looked around once more. “Does any one else have any special skills that may help us with all of this?”

The Paladins looked at each other, not sure how their skills might help the soldiers. Keith spoke up after a few moments of silence. “Lance and I are good with fighting. Shiro is the strategist, and Hunk is the moral booster. Of course, we each have more to us than that, but those are what stand out most. You already know Pidge’s skill. I’m just not sure how ours will be of much help.”

Wash, Carolina, and Kimball shared a look before the blond man spoke up. “I’m sure we can find uses for you all.”

Minutes ticked by in the room, everyone talking about what they could do to help. Kimball sent each team to different spots in the base, giving them each communication devices so they could talk between them and go to each other if need be.

Hunk was sent with Grif, who was groaning about having to move around ‘on a Sunday of all things’. The Paladin sighed softly, wishing he had been set up with someone more companionable. They went around the base with Hunk boosting everyone’s positive attitude. Giving hugs to those who needed them – and he could just tell who needed them. After a while, Grif was replaced with someone else, and Hunk tilted his head slightly at the pink clad man.

“Hey there, friend!” He grinned widely, waving happily at Hunk. “My name’s Franklin Delano Donut and I’ll be your new escort.” The man paused only long enough to get an odd look about him before continuing. “You know, I never got an escort before. What do they really do? Are you my customer?”

Hunk’s eyebrows furrowed slightly before understanding took over. “Oh god,” he murmured; now wishing that he had Grif back.

One of the other groups, Tucker and Keith, were sent to the training room along with Caboose and Lance. Tucker groaned loudly, as Caboose rambled on about someone named MacGyver, constantly pointing at the kid with the mullet while saying the name.

“Hey!” Mullet-kid yelled, turning to Caboose. “My name is Keith, not MacGyver. Whatever that is.”

Caboose only tilted his head and continued on as if Keith hadn’t interrupted him. Meanwhile, Lance was glancing around their surroundings, winking at some of the people they saw along the way.

Keith punched the other in his arm to get his attention back on track once they got to the training room.

“Alright, well, from what Kimball told me, I’m supposed to get your fighting style written down or recorded or whatever, so we can fight these things easier. But I think this is a waste of time. Our fighting style’s never failed us before.”

“Yeah!” Caboose called out, proud. “We’ve only killed our teammates a few times!”

Lance and Keith blanched at the new information while Tucker ran his hands along his face. “That was Caboose’s fault. And we’ve given him a weapon that can only fire on the enemy so that it doesn’t happen again.”

That didn’t help them to relax.

While that was going down, Washington was with Shiro in another room near the control room, setting out a map of their base along with another one of the planet itself and the ones surrounding it. “So, I know they said you were the strategist of the group. Care to help me figure out a way to keep the Galra at bay and away from the planet for as long as possible?” He asked, giving the other man a look.

“Of course. I’ll do my best.” Shiro responded, staring at Wash for a moment before looking at the maps. After a moment of silence, he spoke. “How’d you get those scars? I mean, you and your sister. You two look like you’ve got more than the rest of the guys you brought with you combined.”

Wash went stiff at the mention of his scars and he instinctively brought a hand up to one of the more painful ones, taking a moment to respond. “As I said, my sister and I were ex-Freelancer. We weren’t the normal type of Freelancer, though. We worked for a man named Dr. Leonard Church. He used us, treated us like we were tools. And only a few realized quick enough to try and get out before getting too damaged. It didn’t stop all of our friends from being killed. My sister and I are the last of the Freelancers and that old life. I’d like for the past to remain where it is, if that’s okay.”

Shiro glanced at the older man once again, seeing him in a new light after that. “That’s alright. I understand. And thanks, by the way, for not asking me about mine.”

The blond man nodded at that. “I could tell you’ve gone through rough times too. I know people say that it gets easier, but it never really does. Having friends by your side, though, helps. I never knew how much friends could help until I became part of the Blue team. Even then, it took them a while to warm up to me.”

“Blue team?” The prosthetic armed man asked, hoping that wasn’t off limits as well.

“Yeah, sorry. Our group wasn’t always together. I’m sure you’ve noticed some wearing red and some wearing blue armor. A while back, they used to be in a made-up war against each other. One side was the Reds and the other was the Blues. It wasn’t until they started having to deal with Project Freelancer, and all that applied with that, that they tried teaming up. It was hard at first, and still is in some ways, but they’re getting along mostly.” Wash chuckled quietly, thinking about his friends and their petty fights between each other.

The lead Paladin hummed quietly, trying to imagine the large group split apart and fighting one another. “And what about the people here on the planet?”

“They didn’t come in until quite a bit afterwards. We were heading home after defeating Project Freelancer and our ship was sabotaged. In the end, we crashed here on this planet. The inhabitants were in two groups as well at first. It’s a long story, honestly.”

“Maybe some other time, then.” Shiro smiled softly at Wash and went back to work.

The Princess groaned softly to herself as the two women with her once again moved away a little to have another ‘talk’ to each other. She could hear them. It wasn’t that hard to when their voices were that loud. They were fighting about her and her friends. It seemed, though, that the leader won once again and the two of them returned.

“I apologize about that, Allura, if I may call you that.” Kimball waved her hand gently in front of her as if to ask the unspoken.

“Oh, it’s no problem I know it’s difficult for you all and that trusting us right away is impossible. But I’m hoping to prove that we do in fact come in peace. We’re just trying to help you stay safe.”

Kimball smiled at her, nodding and glancing at Carolina as if to say ‘I told you so’ before turning back to Allura. “Now, is there any way you know of to help us with this?”

“Well, our main way of fighting the Galra is with Voltron, the large mechanical lions that I told you about. But we’re not fighting them at this point in time, so that’ll just be a last resort. We’re hoping to keep them away from your planet altogether. I remember you telling us all about towers that were built on this planet from other inhabitants?”

“Yes, there are a few towers around the planet, though I don’t think that any will be of use.” The darker skinned woman sighed, thinking about which ones they had left. “We still have the communications temple, but I don’t see how that will help any more. Besides that, there’s the Procreation one – which definitely won’t be used, as well as Weather Manipulation, Bountiful Harvest, and Interior Decorating. There are more but we can’t find the rest. We do, however, have a Temple of Arms. So if need be, we can stock up on what we need to defend ourselves if your plan doesn’t work out.”

Allura bobbed her head a bit glad to know that the residents of the planet wouldn’t be completely defenseless. “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but if it does, that would certainly help out. Voltron may be strong but if a large enough fleet comes, we can’t defeat it alone.”

“Alright, then from now on, we do our best to keep the Galra away from this planet.” Vanessa paused, thinking over something before continuing. “I wanted to ask; what sort of weapons do you have in your castle? Besides Voltron, I mean.”

“My castle also has a shield and weapons. The shield is limited, though. It can really only cover the castle itself, and even then, it can only withstand so much. The weapons are decent as well, but not nearly as good as what Voltron has.”

“Alright, I just wanted to know what else we might be able to use to help. Do you happen to have any kind of cloaking devices?”

“Oh, yes. I almost forgot. Pidge put a cloaking device on their lion that lasts a few ticks. We might be able to get them to try and create something for other vehicles, though I’m not sure if we have enough time for that.”

Kimball shifted, thinking everything over. “Alright, thank you. Even if we can’t get those cloaking devices, we should be okay. We’re resilient, this planet. We keep getting back up after everything. I should go talk to our soldiers, see if they’re up for another fight and give anyone a chance to keep away from the fight if they want to.”

Allura smiled softly at that. “You’re a good leader, Vanessa. The Galra won’t know what hit them when we team up together.”

Carolina and the Princess watched as Kimball left the room to set up a speech for whatever soldiers were awake.

“She may trust you but I’ll still be keeping an eye on you.” Carolina warned, eyeing the other woman still in the room with her.

“And I don’t mind. I can tell that it’ll be hard for you to trust us, if not impossible, but I’ll do my best to try and earn your trust. Meanwhile, let’s do our best to save everyone on this planet, shall we?” The Princess smiled slightly at Carolina, trying her best not to let it look forced. She liked pretty much everyone, but this redhead was trying her nerves lately.

The ex-Freelancer paused for a moment before inclining her head in agreement. “Let’s.”

They left the room together, Coran still behind with one of the other soldiers, talking to them and trying to figure out how everyone would be able to help.


	5. I Got Fire In My Soul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two weeks, god, I'm so sorry guys. I wasn't expecting it to take even this long. I got writers block for a while, though. And I feel like this chapter is shitty. I'll probably go through the whole thing once the story is finished and fix anything I find that I didn't see before. I'm guessing this will probably only be a few more chapters, so if any of you have any suggestions as to what should go down, I'd love some advice. I'm still trying to decide on a few things here and there, and I'm afraid I'll probably end up getting writers block again since I've never been a big fan of writing in general. I wanted to do this crossover, though, so I'm getting through my laziness and writing what I hope is a good story. If you could let me know if anything seems odd or OOC, I'd be happy to fix anything. One more thing, I'll probably end up doing just an extra chapter with all the relationship stuff in it, since I'm not very good at incorporating it into the story - as is obvious with this chapter.

The groups had been spread out around the base, doing what they can to fortify, train, and prepare everyone who had agreed to stay and fight if it came to it. They didn’t have too many people that had asked to stay behind, not wanting to deal with another war. While most of the soldiers had agreed, wanting to protect their planet and their loved ones. The ex-New Republic soldiers – Palomo, Jensen, Bitters, Matthews and Smith – had readily agreed to help out. The Paladins got along pretty well with the younger soldiers, mostly with Palomo and Jensen. The others were a bit harder to get to trust them, mostly since Bitters was a lot like Grif, Matthews was a bit of a kiss-ass to the same Hawaiian man, and Smith thought everything Caboose did was Gospel. They weren’t nearly as bad as the Reds and Blues though.

It took about a week before everything had settled into a routine of sorts. Carolina still followed the Paladins and Princess around a bit, but otherwise, they were trusted to help. They had gotten rooms together, a little further off than most since they were the only available ones. The Paladins had been watching the soldiers, though not in the same way that Carolina watched them. They watched their daily lives, how they lived when they were more relaxed than usual, how they talked to each other and got along. The Princess had smirked the day she saw Washington and Tucker interact, seeing their awkward glances and unconscious touches to each other’s arms or hands. She decided that day, to try and get them to realize what was going on. This time off also gave her the chance to see the same within her own team, though it was a bit more difficult to see it since she had known them longer and had assumed it was how they usually were to each other. But now that she saw it with other people, she could tell that Keith and Lance’s bickering was something more than mere squabble.

Allura couldn’t help but notice these more subtle hints now that she and her crew were in one place for longer than a few days. The hardest to recognize was Carolina. The redhead didn’t show her emotions that well, and would hardly show them in front of others. But when the dark skinned woman happened to pass by when Carolina and Vanessa had been talking, she could see the content written on the ex-Freelancers body. How she relaxed around the leader, the ease with which she spoke to her. The only other person Allura had seen that happen around was Washington, but she knew that was because they were siblings and were able to get along better with each other than with friends or acquaintances. This one, she would need help with. But relationships would need to wait. They still had a lot to do to keep everyone on the planet safe. It had been a long journey already, and only a week had passed. The Princess knew that either meant that the Galra were converging and would attack with a large armada, or that – what she was hoping would be the case – the Galra hadn’t received the message at all. The dark skinned woman knew that they wouldn’t be that lucky, however.

In the meantime, the soldiers and the Paladins got better acquainted with one another, getting to know their stories and how they had ended up where they were. The Reds and Blues had quite the story to tell, just one of them having gone through so much more than the Paladins combined. Their story wasn’t one to laugh at either, though. For ones so young, they had been through quite a bit, and still had more to deal with. They had the soldiers’ help this time, hoping that they would be able to withstand the Galra the same way they had withstood the ones that had come before.

Everyone was doing their duty on the third day of the second week that the Paladins had arrived, when Pidge’s tech enhancement to the system went off, sounding alarms around the base. All the younger soldiers began to panic, running around to get what they needed, while the Reds, Blues, ex-Freelancers, Kimball, and Paladins all made their way to their stations easily and calmly. Over the course of the week, Kimball had allowed Coran and Allura to bring the castle closer to the base so they would have access to their computers and weapons as well.

The Paladins made their way to the set up on the main console and Pidge came forward. “Looks like they’re within range of our equipment; which means they’re about 280 million kilometers away.” The rest of the group around them just glanced at the tech-wiz. “They’re about a day away with the ships they’ve got,” Pidge explained, sighing softly.

“Ships?” Lance asked quietly, voicing the question the rest of them had been thinking.

“I can’t tell how many exactly, but there is at least one hundred attack ships that I can see on the radar. I know we’ve dealt with worse, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t more. They could have many more hidden away, ready to attack if they get any resistance.”

Allura glanced around the room, seeing her friends’ worried faces. “We’ve got the soldiers on this planet to help us out if we need it, don’t forget that. I should let them know what we’ve learned.” She turned, heading out of the room to where the other group had decided earlier on that they would meet if the alarms went off.

Shiro and the rest followed after her, splitting up once they got outside. Hunk went off to calm those who were having panic attacks; Keith and Lance went off to find the weapons stash that the planets’ inhabitants had to get it ready, while Pidge and Shiro went to the castle to see if they could get a better reading on how many ships there were and when they would arrive.

Once Allura arrived in the area that the other group had designated their meeting spot, she found them talking over what was going on and how to best deal with it. She came forward and the talking stopped at the sight of the woman. “We went and checked,” the Princess began, looking around the area at everyone there, “and they’re on their way here. We’re not certain, but it’ll be about a day before they get here. My team is already on the move to make sure that our calculations are correct and that everything is ready for when they get here. I suggest you all do the same. We can all win if we work together.”

Kimball nodded after Allura was done speaking; getting everyone’s attention next. “Alright, we need to get everything stocked and handed out, prepare those who are under your command and set up a perimeter. We’ll need to make sure once more that all of our alien weaponry, and whatnot, is working. We don’t have much time, so you should all get a move on.” She dismissed the teams and watched as they headed off to do what they needed in order to preserve the peace on the planet. After they were gone, she turned to the Princess, giving her a soft smile. “Thank you for all your help this past week. We might not make it out of this, and if we don’t, I’d like you to know that we all appreciate what you’ve done for this planet. However, if we do make it out, we could become great allies in future fights.”

“Thank you, Vanessa.” The other dark-skinned woman responded with a smile of her own. “We are glad to help. And I promise to do our very best to help save this planet. We might have some casualties, but that’s war.”

“Of course. Everyone here understands what they’re putting at stake. They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t want to try their best to save everything and everyone.” The leader moved from the room, motioning for Allura to follow. “I’d like for you to be there with me while I give a small speech to those who need it.”

The Princess nodded slightly, trailing after the motivational woman in front of her. They arrived at an open field, on top of a tall structure that allowed them to view many people underneath and for them to be seen easily as well. Many people were already there, obviously waiting for one of Kimball’s speeches. Allura was certain she was the reason that a lot of the soldiers remained.

As Kimball began, more and more soldiers came to listen, almost the entire field getting packed by the time the woman took a moment to look over everyone there. The team that followed Vanessa – the Reds and Blues as well as the ex-Freelancers – and even her own friends arrived to listen, after everything had gotten set up of course. At the end of her inspiring speech, the Princess heard loud cheering and applause from all of the soldiers present, seeing the Paladins doing the same. It seemed Kimball really was the great leader that everyone painted her to be. Allura hadn’t had much time to see the woman in action in rallying the people, but now that she had, she knew that this fight would go a lot better than she had previously thought it would.

The large group of people dispersed easily, moving about freely and doing what needed to be done for the finishing touches. Meanwhile, the Paladins and the soldiers they knew came up to where Kimball and Allura were. Carolina gave the leader a rare smile in front of everyone else. “You did great as always, Kimball.”

Shiro and the other Paladins nodded in agreement, with the scarred man speaking. “You pumped them up really well. They’re all ready to fight whatever comes their way.”

“She pumps us all up all the time!” Donut chimed in, smiling happily at everyone. “Kimball really is great at getting us up!”

The Blue’s rolled their eyes slightly while Grif and Simmons groaned. “What he means,” Washington came forward, “is that Kimball is the best leader we’ve had. She’s able to get things done that Carolina and I can’t. Like getting all the other soldiers rallied and ready for war.”

The dark-skinned woman smiled at everyone. “Thank you all. I want as many people to come back from this as possible. And that means making sure they know what they’re dealing with and that they can rely on those around them. We wouldn’t stand a chance otherwise.”

Pidge came forward once that conversation had ended. “Alright, guys, now on to the matter at hand. I checked at the castle and it seems the data we received in the control room was fairly close to when we’ll be expecting them. They should arrive in a little over a day. Now, I’ve finished a partial cloaking device, but it won’t last long for an entire planet. So we can either disperse it to our lions and make it so we have an advantage of longer invisibility with them, or use it on the planet and give the ground troops more time to prepare for the ships.”

The group looked around to one another, trying to decide what might be best, before Kimball spoke up. “Use it on your lions. Our ground troops are already set up. It’ll be a better idea to have Voltron able to conceal itself and take down a couple ships than for us to have time that we don’t really need.”

The tech genius nodded, running off back to the castle to put the devices on the lions, Hunk going with them to help.

“Everyone else should try and get some sleep before tomorrow. We’re going to have a big day ahead of us and I’d rather not lose anyone due to sleep deprivation. We should work in shifts to cover the control room just in case the ships arrive earlier than anticipation, however.”

“I’ll take first shift,” Wash responded, heading off to the control room.

Tucker glanced to where Wash had gone. “I’ll take second. And since the shifts will probably be shorter with the amount of people that we have, I’ll just stay around here.”

“Alright, we’ll figure out the rest of the shifts. Meanwhile, you all should get to sleep soon. You can train for a short while or do what you need to, but I suggest you head off before it gets too late.”

The rest of the group around them headed out of the room, knowing they would get information on the shifts once it had been decided.

Allura stayed behind, making her way over to Kimball once most of the others were gone. “May I help with the shift arrangements?”

Carolina came up just then, standing off to Kimball’s side slightly. “As long as you have your Paladins do shifts as well. They don’t get off the hook simply because they’re not inhabitant of this planet.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t dream of it. That is one of the reasons I asked to help. I know how well my friends are able to sleep in certain situations, so some would be better suited for earlier shifts and some would be suited for later ones.”

Kimball nodded her consent once Allura explained. “We should get it done soon so everyone knows how much time they have and how long each shift will be.”

The three women got to work, making sure to leave out anyone incapable of doing basic work – Caboose mainly, though they did arrange to have Grif accompanied by Simmons on one shift in order to make sure the Hawaiian would remain awake. It took them half an hour to decide on the shifts, and sent the decisions out over comms, making sure everyone knew when they would need to make their way to the command center.


	6. Our Backs Against the Wall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like a piece of shit for making you guys wait so long. I just didn’t have the right mindset for writing and I didn’t want to just shit out a bunch of chapters. I wanted to make this well written – or at least as well written as I can manage. I had to go back through and re-read to get an idea of what I had been going for before trying to write again as well. If you guys want to see why it took a bit longer from a more personal perspective as well, check out my tumblr http://infamousrowe.tumblr.com/tagged/car-wreck

First shift started with Wash watching over the control room, sitting in the singular chair and checking through each of the options of defense they had. The Galra weren’t expected for a while but it was better to be safe than sorry. He turned sharply when he heard the door to the control room open and relaxed instantly when he saw it was Tucker. “Hey, what are you doing here? Your shift doesn’t start for a while.”

“I know it doesn’t, but I wanted to talk to you about something.” The dark skinned man replied, heading over to Washington.

The taller man turned in his chair so he could face his friend. “Oh, alright. What is it?”

Tucker gave a short pause before he spoke. “I know you guys are certain we’ll make it through this, but what if we don’t? What if something happens and we lose?” He leaned against the console, making sure not to hit any important buttons.

“Tucker…” Washington stood, heading over to him and gently placing his hand on his shoulder. “We’re soldiers, and that means doing our best to serve and protect those who can’t protect themselves. We don’t always make it through things, but with help from friends and luck on our side, we can save a lot of people. And I’ll do my best to make sure you make it through this.”

Tucker looked up at him, having been keeping his eyes from meeting his friends’. “That’s the thing, Wash. I want you to make it through this as well. I want all of our friends to make it. The new guys too. Those kids don’t deserve to die from a war like this. They should be able to live out the rest of their lives in peace.”

The blond couldn’t help the small smile. “We’ll win, Tucker. I can feel it.”

Silence followed his words for a short while, before Tucker gave a nod. “I’ve learned to trust your instincts, Wash, so you’d better not be wrong about this. I don’t want to lose you.” He paused for a moment, realizing how that had sounded. “Anyone, I mean. I don’t want to lose anyone.” He moved towards the door. “I’ll be back in a while for shift change. Be safe, Wash.”

Washington could only stare after him once Tucker left the room, surprised by what the man had said. He got under control after a few moments and went back to watching the control panel.

Tucker leaned against the wall outside the control room, hands over his face as he berated himself for saying that. He only moved when he heard footsteps heading towards him. When he caught sight of Allura, he gave her a small nod in greeting.

“Hello, you’re Tucker, correct?” She asked politely, stopping near him.

“Yeah, that’s me. Is there something you needed?” He moved off the wall, not wanting to seem lax in front of her. She reminded him of Kimball in a way. And that was just one reason why he felt he could trust her.

The princess shook her head a bit, giving him a warm smile. “No, nothing I needed. I just wanted to check on everything to make sure it was going smoothly so far. I know it hasn’t been long, but still.”

Tucker hummed softly and started walking along with her down the hall. “Wash is on top of things in there right now. He’s one of our best, along with Carolina. We’re pretty much kids compared to them.”

“You’re not,” Allura replied easily, looking over at him. “You’re brave, selfless, and kind. You’re willing to sacrifice yourselves to save others and it shows.”

“It didn’t start out that way, though. We were just soldiers who had no idea what they were getting into. I’m sure that if we had had the choice back then, we would have stayed out of it. But it was our lives on the line so we did what we had to do. When Kimball first came to us to help her planet, we were going to refuse. Then our friends became involved when the two sides split us up. It all went downhill from there. Now, though… Now that we’ve been through so much with all of them, it’s hard to imagine not helping them.”

“That’s all that matters then, Tucker. It doesn’t matter how it all started or what happened in between. What’s important is that you’re here now, helping everyone and doing what you can. That you’re here for your friends and those you love.” She gave him a look that he didn’t want to try to identify right then.

The aqua dressed man stopped where he was, gently grabbing the princess’ arm. “Thank you, Allura. You make a great leader. I can understand why the Paladins work so well underneath you.”

She blushed slightly at the compliment. “You’re welcome. Now, come. Let’s take a walk. I have some things I’d like to talk to you about.”

He raised an eyebrow at that but didn’t complain, following after her.

Meanwhile, the rest of the soldiers and Paladins were resting or exercising, depending on when their shift began. Simmons was keeping an eye on Grif so that the Hawaiian wouldn’t run off and eat out the cafeteria or hide for a nap. Lance and Keith were herding Caboose, both of them having a hard time keeping him out of trouble. Hunk and Pidge were still in the castle, setting up their lions with the cloaking devices.

“Carolina,” Kimball ran up to the other woman, their shifts not starting until early morning. “I was wondering if you’d like to do some sparing.”

The redhead turned as her name was called and gave an affirmative nod to her friend’s question. “I’d like that, Vanessa. Anything in particular you’d like to do?”

She shook her head, shrugging a bit. “Nothing specific, no. I thought we could just do whatever comes to mind.”

“Sounds like a plan to me, come on.” Carolina took her arm gently as they headed to the sparing room, a rare smile on her face.

Once in the changing room, they quickly changed into sparing clothes and headed out to the open area where they could train together. “I won’t go easy on you.” Kimball warned, grinning widely.

“I would be disappointed if you did.” Carolina moved forward as their sparing began.

They went on as they were for a few hours before one of the recruits came in, almost being thrown into the wall by a body being thrown at the entrance where they had just stood. They yelped, moving out of the way quickly. “I- I’m sorry to interrupt, but I was told to come get Carolina for her shift.”

Vanessa got up off the ground, dusting herself off, still smiling. “That’s quite alright. You can head off now and let them know that she’ll be there in just a moment.”

Chuckling quietly, the scarred woman opposite her got out of stance. “I guess that’s the end of our session for today. I’d like to do this again sometime.”

“As would I, Carolina.” Kimball followed after her to the changing room where they showered quickly and got changed.

The women walked together to the control room, where the darker-skinned one of the two pressed a hand to her upper arm. “I’m really thankful for your help in all of this. You’ve done so much for this planet and the people on it.”

Carolina was quiet for a moment as she looked at her friend before she let her own hand gently lay on Kimball’s cheek. “I’ll do all that I can to protect you and your people.” She leaned forward and placed her lips gently on Kimball’s cheek. “Thank you for walking me here. You should get some rest while you can.”

The ex-New Republic leader gave a short nod, stunned momentarily by the kiss. She watched Carolina enter the room and a red-faced Simmons and grinning Grif exit a moment later.

“K-Kimball!?” Simmons stammered, his face instantly going a deeper red. “I- I wasn’t expecting you to be out here. What are you doing here?”

It took the woman a moment to grasp what was going on before a large smile graced her lips. “I had been walking with Carolina.”

Upon seeing the knowing smile, Simmons shuffled past her, embarrassed. “It- it really isn’t what it seems. I- I-” he trailed off, not sure how to get out of the mortifying moment.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Simmons. I’m sure they all had a bet pool going with it, anyway.” Grif yawned, walking past them both.

Kimball laughed, following after them both, since she had to head that way. “I won’t confirm or deny that.”

“Oh god,” the cyborg murmured, moving a bit faster to try and get away from them both.

“Come on, don’t make me run after you.” The Hawaiian moaned, not wanting to have to do that, but not wanting to leave Simmons by himself after that.

Kimball moved off from them after that, heading her own direction and leaving them to themselves.

The rest of the compound had fallen asleep, with only them and Carolina in the control room being awake.

It was halfway through her shift that something caught the ex-Freelancer’s eye. She stood quickly, checking their scanners and whatever else she could, hoping they would tell her differently. “Oh no…” She murmured, running from the room, hitting the alarm button as she did so.

It took only half a moment for the system to begin, a loud whirring, and blaring sound coming from the speakers. Lights flashed, alerting all to the threat. Carolina got on the comms quickly. “Everyone hurry up and get ready! They’re here early!” She yelled, running to her own room in order to get her gear on.

The minutes it took for everyone to wake up and realize what was going on was luckily not that important. If she hadn’t seen the blip when she did, it would have taken them too long. As it was, with everyone in gear and setting up, they could already see the ship in their sky.

The Paladins took a few minutes longer, having to run to the castle and then into their gear and their lions. Once in, they roared to life and landed next to the ground troops for the time being.

Kimball was picked up by one of them so she could stand above all. “Alright everyone, this is what we’ve been preparing for! Don’t get discouraged, trust in your friends and do all that you can to make it through this. Now, let’s get this going!” She yelled loudly, knowing everyone was listening only to her.

The entirety of the soldiers, Paladins and all, yelled out an affirmation in response. The Paladins took off into the sky along with a couple Banshee, Phantom, and Hornet aircrafts. The ground troops dispersed across the area, not wanting to thin out too much but needing to cover space just in case.

Kimball stayed with the ground forces while Washington flew one of the aircrafts, holding a couple soldiers in it in order to use the weapons aboard. Carolina was in a Scarab, prepared to fight if any Galra managed to get on the planet. They also had backup aircrafts in case those already up needed help. The rest of the group was in vehicles, either with each other or other soldiers, setting up more defenses for the planet.

“This is it, everyone,” Kimball voiced over comms, standing proud and ready.

Everyone went into motion as the first weapon was fired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took much longer than originally planned to write. It started out where I was just going to take a break to get things dealt with, then it turned into one of those things where I had to avoid writing it so that I wouldn’t procrastinate on a five page essay I had to do for a class. After that turned into more drama, and then having to study for finals, then my birthday and then Dishonored 2. I’m so sorry about the wait. I hope you guys forgive me. I will get the rest done by the end of the year I’m hoping. At least before my next semester starts so I won't have to procrastinate again.


	7. How the Mighty Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t forget to go back to chapter 6. I made it into a real chapter. And again, I’m so freaking sorry for the wait. I’m a huge procrastinator, even with things I enjoy.

For the first few minutes of the fighting, everything seemed to be in slow motion. Those in the air, getting the first contact while a couple ships managed to get around their blockade and to the ground. When a ship came crashing to the planet, those fighting didn’t even have enough time to see if it was one of their own or the enemies.

Hunk, in his lion, was the first to say something over comms while the fighting was happening. “Guys, I think Zarkon is here.” He practically whispered as he watched one of the largest ships come into view, the Galra ship not even bothering to fire yet.

“What makes you say that?” Kimball returned, fighting her own battle on the planet’s surface, too busy to check what was going on above her.

Pidge was the next to speak, their voice coming out brave even in their situation surrounded by ships. “It does seem to be a main control ship, but there’s no guarantee that Zarkon is on board. We may get lucky, still.”

The rest of their group was silent for a moment before Washington responded. “If we take down the main ship, we may be able to get them to retreat. Or, if they’re connected in any way, we could defeat them all with that alone.”

“If I get some time, I can check that theory out,” the tech genius called out, fighting their way through the enemies around them to a secluded spot.

“Alright, Hunk, Lance, Tucker and his group should guard Pidge.” Washington moved forward in his ship. “Keith, Shiro and I will get to the main ship and see what we can do. Allura, and everyone else need to keep all the rest busy and keep as many off the planet as you can.”

Everyone agreed to the plan and a few moments later they all got into position. Shiro and Keith were in front of Washington’s ship in order to protect him from the Galra’s weaponry as much as possible since they had better shields.

Meanwhile, the ground forces were separated, too many ships landing with Galra soldiers coming onto the planet surface, destroying anything they touched. Carolina was occupied with a couple attacks, as was Kimball. It was then left up to Caboose, the Reds, and the ex-New Republic lieutenant’s to defend their base. While most of the Galra were defeated before they reached the base, a select few made it through.

“Come’on men, let’s get‘em.” Sarge yelled out roughly, cocking his shotgun and heading straight toward the enemy. He was followed suit by Simmons, who was then followed by Grif. Donut and Caboose stayed off to the side with the lieutenant’s, all dealing with another set of Galra.

“Enemy located- enemy locat- enemy loc- enemy-” Freckles couldn’t even keep up with those surrounding them until Jensen suddenly came by in a warthog, running over multiple enemy soldiers before jumping off and letting it drive a bit further before it ran into a wall and exploded near a group of Galra.

They all went silent suddenly as a large explosion was heard over the planet; the crackling of the comms from the air forces became a weight in their stomachs.

No one had much time to think about what may have happened or if any of their friends were still alive as more Galra showed up, taking up whatever thoughts they may have had.

Carolina could only spare a quick moment to mutter her brother’s name, hoping he was okay.

In the air, Pidge had contacted Shiro to let him know what they found out, telling him that only a couple of the ships were connected to the main control one, but that it was also the larger ones. So if they could take out the control unit, they could cripple quite a few of the enemy ships.

Shiro relayed the message to Washington who worked with the other scared man to devise a plan on what they would do if they could get on board. Keith gave them suppressing fire as they did so, only needing a few moments before something was decided on. “Keith, you’ve got to keep them busy for as long as you can while we get close. I’m going to get Wash into the ship and then I’ll come back and help you.”

Keith could only make a soft noise in response, too busy keeping the enemy fire off them already.

Washington got into a single person aircraft, switching to a channel just between himself, Keith and Shiro. He left the larger ship to help Keith before following Shiro to the main control ship.

They fought through a couple forces before they were able to land on the large ship and Shiro’s lion clawed open a hole for Washington to get through. The other man jumped through, immediately going through a door to get away from the vacuum of space – he wasn’t about to go through another experience like the grappling hook one.

The heavily scared man let Shiro know he was good to go and that he’d call out for him once he was finished, and thus, Shiro headed out to help Keith hold the reinforcements off.

Inside the ship, Washington made his way through the halls, the sirens going off to let the Galra inside know that they were being attacked. The man had gone through multiple designs of Galra ships with the help of the Paladins over the course of their stay on the planet. Pidge had given him enough information to hopefully be able to disable the controls once he found them, so the ex-Freelancer hoped this ship was similar enough in design to the other ones that it wouldn’t be a problem. He had luck and only ran into a few remaining guards on the ship, most of them out dealing with the Paladins.

To say that it was confusing was an understatement. Washington was used to alien technology with the Freelancer jobs he had done, but this was entirely new. It was from a different reach of space and the technology was vastly different from those that he had encountered. He was just glad that he had found the controls. The guards in the room were knocked out and piled in a corner so no one could see them if they happened to pass by, and he was working on disabling the system. After a few tries of Pidge’s suggestion, he decided to open the panel underneath and mess with the wiring. When he heard a different set of sirens start, he knew he had managed to do something. Over the comms he heard Keith and Shiro celebrating that most of their attackers had gone still.

Then the ship began to shake, and only a moment later he heard the sounds of explosions. He took off at a run, yelling out to Shiro and Keith that the main ship was going up. Their cheering cut short as both replied, “Get out of there-”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to get to the ship in time. Even if I could, it won’t be nearly fast enough to get out of the blast radius. You guys have to get out of here. Warn the others to back off as well.” He replied, breath coming out heavy as he continued to run, not giving up yet.

“We aren’t leaving you, Wash. We’ll figure something out,” Shiro replied, making his way to the ship quickly.

Washington sighed, glad to know that they wouldn’t have left him behind, though that didn’t mean he thought it was practical. “There’s no time. You’ll get wiped out if you try to come get me.”

Shiro yelled to Keith that he had to get going, not letting his teammate come with him, telling him that he had to make sure the rest of their friends were safe.

While Keith didn’t want to leave Shiro to do what he was planning, he also knew he wouldn’t be able to stop the man. And if he could save others, he would. So, with that, the red Paladin headed off to get the other soldiers away from the ship.

In the ship, Washington caught sight of one of the Galra, though this one looked different than the others he had faced on the way to the control room. This one was larger than the others with purple eyes. He had a helmet on and wore a cape. Washington was just in time to turn a corner before the other saw him, but realized that the Galra was blocking his way out. The grey-armored man made his way to another hallway and got Shiro on the comms again. “I can’t get out. You have to go. Now.”

“As I said, I’m not leaving you. Where are you?” Shiro responded simply, determined.

The man got out a device that Pidge had made for everyone and gave Shiro the coordinates, getting prepared as the sounds of the explosion grew closer. The heat of it was already hitting him, which made him realize just how long he had left. He switched his comm over to the channel Tucker was using while he waited. “Tucker-”

“Wash? Oh, man, what’s going on in your part? Everything okay?” The aqua clad man responded, worry evident in his voice.

“Yeah. Yeah, everything’s good.” Wash lied, not wanting to make the other too anxious. “Just thought I’d check up with how everything was for you. You doing okay?” He hoped that the explosions weren’t obvious over the comms.

“As good as one can be in war, I suppose.” Tucker paused. “You sure everything is okay? You sound off.”

“I’m sure, Tucker. I just wanted to let you know how much you mean to me. You know, just in case.” There wasn’t a better way to put that, really.

The dark skinned man was quiet for a single moment. “How much I mean to- What are you talking about, Wash? It sounds like you’re preparing to die.”

Washington chuckled, having known Tucker was too smart for something as simple as what he had tried. He still didn’t want to stress his friend out. “I won’t give up without a fight, you know that.” The grey-clad man sighed and quickly said what he could, as he heard the explosions enter the hallway next to his. “I love-” the line went dead at that moment, and Tucker could feel his heart in his throat as he saw a large explosion wreak havoc on the ships near it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really tried getting all the characters in this chapter. It seems a bit forced to me, but what can I say. I took way too long to write this and I just wanted everyone in it. Let me know what you think so far and where you think it’s going. Because I sure as hell don’t know where I’m going with this any more. I’m so sorry for my shit writing and everything. Especially for how short it is with how long you had to wait.


	8. Take My Hand, Don’t Let Go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I completely forgot about this story, honestly. School started back up and it just drained my mental capacity. Sorry about the wait again. At least it’s not as long of a wait as the last one. I'm a little 'if-fy' on the ending of this chapter and I think I may change it unless it's something that people think fits well with it. (I kind of decided on a cliffhanger but I'm sure you all will figure out what it is - but if it's not something that fits right, I'll be changing it to something that's probably not a cliffhanger).

“No…” Tucker murmured, his body feeling cold as the sound wave hit his ship. He didn’t move, even as the warning lights and sirens went on and the rest of the crew began running around to try and fix whatever damage had occurred.

“Captain,” one of the crew came up and gently touched his shoulder, waking the man from his stupor. “We need to get out of here. The ship won’t hold up for much longer. We need to get back to the surface of the planet. We won’t be of much help up here any longer.”

Tucker could only nod, not able to speak quite yet as he watched the burning ships that were closer to Chorus being pulled to the surface by gravity.

The crewmember ran off after that, giving instructions on behalf of Tucker to get the ship safely down.

It took several moments before Tucker was able to force himself out of the state he had been in and get back to saving those he could. It was a rough landing, mostly because one of the ships that had been destroyed had taken out one of their engines and landing gear. Once back on Chorus, however, they went right back to fighting, with Tucker not having the chance to even attempt to find out what happened.

His crew made it to the front lines where most of the Galra were, as well as Carolina. Upon seeing her friend, she finished off the enemy she had been in combat with and went over to him. “Tucker, what’s going on?” She asked, able to see how slow his reaction times had become.

“It’s Wash-” The man responded, looking over to her, not able to say anything else. He wasn’t certain after all if Washington was dead. They wouldn’t know the death count until a while after the fighting stopped. Which could take a while longer, even with a large amount of the ships destroyed.

Carolina went stiff when she heard Tucker say her brother’s name that way. “He- he’s not dead. He can’t be.” She shivered slightly at the possibility that her younger brother was gone.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Tucker nodded, hoping his reassurance would help not only the red-haired woman, but also himself. “He’ll be here when the fighting’s all over.”

The taller sighed, shifting to get back into fight mode. “Come on, let’s get this over with.” She made her way forward with Tucker following next to her.

Meanwhile, Keith sat stunned in his lion, watching the explosion from where he was. Red was a lot sturdier than normal ships so he didn’t have to go too far in order to stay safe. The enemy ships around him were all destroyed and floating in the space around him. Once the vacuum of space took care of the fire, he could see what was left of the control ship that Washington and Shiro had been at. When he saw no trace of the black lion, he got on comms in his lion. “Pidge, please tell me that you have a way to track our lions.” He said it with as much strength as he could, not wanting to scare his friends without any certainty that something had happened.

“It’s not completely functional at the moment, unfortunately. I had some issues over here with the Galra. They tried to take Green away from me and managed to mess up some of my equipment. But I can get it back online in a few minutes if I don’t have to deal with any more of these guys.” They paused and Keith could hear fighting noises in the background. “What happened anyway?”

“I lost Shiro and Wash in the battle. I can’t get ahold of them so their comms must be down.” He admitted, feeling bad that he had left them even though Shiro had told him to do so. “Do you want me to help you out?”

“I’ll be fine, Lance and Hunk are here. There aren’t many more and you need to be there in case you see Shiro’s lion. Just make sure you keep fighting as well, though.”

“Alright, stay safe, Pidge. Let me know when you get the tracker back on and find out their location.” Keith ended the conversation and began to move toward the command ship, though he had a ways to go and quite a few destroyed ships to get through.

_____________________________________________________________

Lance had been listening in; it wasn’t very hard when Keith had called all of their comms. He was just surprised that Pidge hadn’t noticed. Or maybe they had, and they wanted Lance to be able to hear so he knew what was going on. He stared off towards where he had seen the explosion, and would have been hit by a Galra ship if Hunk hadn’t been there to push him out of the way. That was enough to get him to focus once more.

“Come on, Lance. Once we finish this, you can get over to Keith and help him search while Pidge and I head to the surface and fix the equipment.” Hunk’s yellow lion passed right by Lance’s screen and a loud crash could be heard a moment later.

The blue Paladin was glad the others wouldn’t be able to see the reddish tint to his skin as he got back into the fight. As soon as the area was clear, Hunk and Pidge made their way to Chorus and Lance headed in the direction that he last saw the explosion come from. Surely Keith or Shiro would be around there.

_____________________________________________________________

Keith froze for a moment when he saw something in the distance, though it easily disappeared once he realized it was the blue lion. He got back on comms and signaled Lance so he knew where to find him. “Lance, come help me look.”

The other Paladin began to rip away parts of the command ship, looking inside and trying to find whatever he could that would help them. “Keith… What happened, really?”

A silence loomed for a few moments before he replied. “Shiro went to help Wash as the command ship was being destroyed. He wouldn’t let me help him; he wanted me to be safe and to keep the other ship from interfering. The last thing I saw was Shiro’s lion touching the ship a few moments before it exploded.”

Lance let out a short breath. “I’m sure they’re fine...” He replied quietly, though he began looking a bit more thoroughly. “How are you holding up?”

“Well, we’ve only got the ground troops left to defeat, so I can’t complain on that front. But if we lose Shiro or Wash-”

“I know,” the other bit his lip slightly, worried about their friends as well. “Shiro and Wash are tough, though. They’re pretty similar; they’re both great fighters and they don’t give up.”

Keith smiled at that. “You’re right. Thanks, Lance.” He looked over to Lance’s lion, glad that Lance was there with him.

“I’m always here for you, buddy.” The dark skinned Paladin smiled as well, feeling a bit better after his talk with Keith.

Meanwhile, Hunk and Pidge worked together to fix the equipment on the green lion. Once Pidge heard the click, they ran back into their lion and called up both the comms and the tracker. “Guys, we’ve got it.”

Those few words sent the two Paladins into action as soon as Pidge gave them a location. The lion was hard to see in the debris, covered almost completely by destroyed ships, and with the lions’ main systems offline.

Lance made a loud, ecstatic sound through the comms. “We found him!” He had Blue go forward, removing the junk around Black. “He’s offline but basic survival systems look to be working.”

“What should we do, Pidge?” Keith asked, trying to look inside the dark screen to see if Shiro or Wash were even in there.

“You’ve got to keep him safe for now. I’ll let Allura know and she can bring the castle to your location.”

The two Paladins agreed, arranging their lions to push Shiro’s own once the castle arrived, which only took a few minutes. Upon arrival, Keith and Lance moved the black lion into its bay area and gave Allura the all-okay so she could make her way back to the planet’s surface.

The red and blue Paladins remained in space to make sure all the Galra forces were destroyed and to check on their allies that were still in space.

On the surface of Chorus, Hunk and Pidge had separated in order to help fight the rest of the Galra on each side. Allura had landed and went directly to the black lion, plugged it into the castle and let it start repairing. The first thing that happened was the mouth opening and shadows being seen towards the back. “Shiro?” The dark skinned princess called out, worried.

Silence followed for a brief moment before a voice was heard. “Afraid not.” The dark figure emerged with both Shiro and Wash dragging behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Points for anyone who can figure out which songs some of my chapter titles came from (not all my chapter titles came from song lyrics/titles, though. I think it’s only chapter 5 through the last/latest chapter). Don’t know what the points are for? Well, neither do I. But hey, it’s a short little time waster. Thanks for sticking with me through this. I might be doing one last chapter, but I am really bad at endings so it’ll probably suck, tbh. And if I get enough responses, I would be willing to do a chapter just for the pairings. Their endings together and all that. (Also, it seems each time I write Keith's name, I - for some odd reason - write Keither and I have to keep erasing the 'er').


	9. Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck. I’m sorry, guys. Writing has felt like a chore more than usual lately. I hate my procrastination. Seriously, it has reached an all time high. You guys really deserve someone who’s better at keeping a schedule and making sure everything is in order. In any case, here’s the – last? – chapter. If I end up doing another chapter, it’d mostly be their goodbye’s and maybe some romance for the ships I tagged. Let’s see how this ends up. (A lot of you probably already guessed the cliffhanger too.) But honestly, a lot of my time has been taken up by Boku No Hero Academia and I really want to make a fic with it but I’m not sure what to do – if I do end up going for it. Any of you guys watch?  
> Also - I'm totally unsure about the ending to this chapter and the characterization. I'm out of touch with the shows atm, especially with Voltron since I haven't seen it watched the first season ended. And with RVB's newest season, things are heating up. I hope I did these characters' some justice. Let me know what you think :)

“Zarkon-” Allura stepped back, reaching for a weapon, belatedly realizing she hadn't brought one. The other didn't know that, though.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He continued, voice deep and disturbing. “What would your little friends think if you were the reason these two died?”

Allura’s mind raced with the images of her world burning, of her parent’s dying without her there, by their sides. “Don’t hurt them.” She responded, her facial expression changing quickly to one of determination. “What is it you want?”

“You know what I want, Princess. And if you don’t want anyone to die, you’ll give it to me.”

“Even if I did give Voltron to you, you’d still kill us.” The dark skinned woman shifted subtly, trying to get into a fighting stance. She wanted to get to her friends but knew that if she dared try, Zarkon wouldn’t bat an eye before killing Wash and Shiro.

“True.” He sneered, seeing Allura’s movements. “Either way, you die. The question is; will you have to watch your friends die in front of you, or will you die along side them?”

Allura was about to respond when she caught sight of someone out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t want to turn her head and have Zarkon see the movement, but she wasn’t sure whom it was. The woman decided then that she would stall until the other person either did something or until she could see who it was. “You know I can’t just give Voltron to you like that. The other lions aren’t even here.”

“You’ll have to figure something out then, won’t you?” The Galra leader responded, looking unimpressed. “And don’t get any thoughts about reaching out for help. If even one more person steps in this area, I’ll kill these two.”

Allura was silent for a moment, watching as Zarkon stepped down off the ramp, leaving the two slumped bodies lying as they were and moving closer to her. A split second later and the ramp began to close, going fast enough to cut the man off from his captives.

Zarkon spun, eyes dark as the ramp finished closing. He let out a menacing growl, turning back to the princess. “Open it.” The man stormed towards her.

Her response to the threatening gaze of the Galra leader was to use her smaller form to move around him quickly, getting out of his range. “Why the hell would I do that?” She snarled at the other, wondering just how the ramp had closed if she hadn’t seen the form from earlier go inside.

“You could still be killed easily.” Zarkon moved close again, trying to get ahold of her in some way. He had lost his main weapons in the explosion, but he still had a few of his knives and he could only use them in close combat otherwise he’d risk losing them.

“True, but at least my friends would be spared. You won’t be able to get out here after killing me. For that matter, I don’t think you’ll get out at all. If I don’t take you down, the other’s that are outside definitely will. You can’t control my ship so you have no way to get off this planet.”

He snapped forward, knife in his hand as he attacked, going for Allura’s throat, trying to get it over with quickly. He knew he wouldn’t have much time before someone showed up, or the two in the Black lion woke up. “You insolent worm. I’m going to make you suffer.”

The princess tsked, moving away as fast as she could, getting a slice across her cheek for her efforts. “You know you don’t have the time for that. Just give up.”

Zarkon attacked once again, using his experience as a fighter to get to any of the soft tissue areas on the woman’s body. He went for her eyes, throat, stomach, thighs or anywhere that would have large veins.

In retaliation, Allura kept dodging, not having her own weapons on her form since she hadn’t been expecting having to deal with Zarkon of all people.

Just as the Galra leader pushed her up against one of the walls, the knife to her jugular, a form slipped out and pushed him away. The knife left a nick on her throat, luckily not having been pressed against it hard enough. Allura turned to the commotion that came afterwards, spotting a small figure sporting green attire. “Pidge?”

“Here to help,” the small tech genius replied with a smirk, backing away from the downed figure and throwing a weapon over to Allura. “Let’s stall him.” They were whispering, not wanting Zarkon to hear the plan. “I called for backup silently, so anyone who’s close by should be on their way.” Pidge shifted to glance at her, not wanting to take their sight off the Galra leader for too long. “Unless you think we can take him.”

“No, no. We should stall. The more we can surround him, the better chance we have of capturing him.”

Zarkon was standing by that time, an enraged snarl on his face. “ _You_ ,” he snapped at the smaller of the two, clearly wanting blood. “Are going to be first.” The man lunged, going for Pidge this time, only to be attacked by Allura with the new weapon, throwing him back to the ground and a back and forth with their knives. She got a few good cuts on him while he did the same to her. Their fighting was only interrupted by the sound of a door scrapping open and feet pounding on the floor.

A moment later and Zarkon was knocked off the princess with ease, sent skidding across the floor and to the wall closest. Allura glanced up to the face of the yellow Paladin. “Sorry for taking so long.” Hunk gave her a warm smile, helping her up. “A couple of the soldiers were having a hard time.” He explained, shifting to look to where Zarkon had landed, watching as he once again stood.

“This just keeps getting better and better.” The Galra leader’s sarcasm was evident. “Anyone else I should be expecting?” He was stalking closer to the three, clearly still believing he could take them all on.

Until the sound of a ramp descending was heard. Zarkon whipped his head in the direction, glaring at it as two figures made their way down, clearly worse for wear, but alive. “Great.” He gave an annoyed huff, now looking for any possible escape route, but found he was trapped, the only exits behind the group in front of him.

“Oh, thank god.” Allura let out a relieved sigh as she saw Shiro and Washington make their way out of the Black lion, holding onto each other for support.

“Good to see you guys, but you should keep back.” Hunk moved closer to them, intending to shield them in case Zarkon tried to attack again.

“Looks like almost the entire crew is here,” the man laughed spitefully, annoyed that he had gotten cornered. “This was fun and all, but looks like it’s time for me to go.” He charged forward, watching as they all got into fighting stances, before he kicked off the ground and jumped over the smallest of them, knowing it would be the easiest.

Pidge gave a soft gasp as they watched the man go over their head, before turning on a dime. They began sprinting to catch up and tackled the Galra leader to the ground as he finally got to the door. Hunk and Allura appeared not a moment later and helped the green Paladin to hold him down. “Anyone have something to keep him chained up by chance?”

“I’ve got an idea.” Wash piped up from Shiro’s side, both still using the other to keep themselves standing.  
_____________________

After they finished getting Zarkon locked up safely, sure that there was no way the man would be able to escape if they left, they headed out. Allura forced Shiro and Washington to stay in the castle, telling them they shouldn’t be standing with their wounds and instead had them help each other patch up in the medical bay. Hunk, Pidge, and herself left the castle to finish off the rest of the fight.

The cleanup of the Galra took a few more hours, what were left were just pawns in Zarkon’s plans, but there had been a lot of them. As the hours died down and one of the suns of Chorus set, the groups came back together slowly. They were all exhausted and bloodied, and a few never returned. Allura found Kimball and they had everyone meet in the same area that they had been before the start of the attack.

Kimball moved up to her speaking spot, looking out over the crowd. “I know we are all tired and hurt. We’ve lost many friends today, but we’ve also managed to make some more. We’ll need everyone’s help in the next few days. There’s much to be done. Those who are able should help the wounded get to the medic’s clinic. If you wish to stay with any friends or family that have been hurt, you must make sure that you do not take up room needed for others to get their treatments. I know everyone is worried but we all must do what we can to help those who need it. Those of you who are not harmed should do their part to keep everyone else safe. We are still unsure if we got each and every last one of the Galra, so keep a look out. I will gather a team myself and we will look around parts of the area close by to make sure we are clear for now. It will take time to get through everything. I ask that you all be patient and focus on what you can do.

We need everyone to keep their hopes up. Many have not returned but that does not always mean the worst. There will be long nights ahead of us all, but we will make it through. If anyone is in need of rest, please check in with the medic’s before you attempt to sleep. We still need to make a list of those who are found. I will always be grateful to all of you. For standing up and helping, for being hero’s. Thank you, and be safe.”

Kimball retracted from her position as people weakly cheered, mostly for her speech rather than their win, since a lot had gone down within just a few hours. Allura gave the other woman a small smile, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. “You did an amazing job. Everyone is proud of you.”

“Thank you, Allura. Would you mind gathering the Paladins? I’ll be assembling the Reds and Blues, myself. If you could meet us in the control room, that would be helpful.”

“Of course. We can meet you there with Washington as well, in about a half hour.” The dark skinned princess replied, moving back to allow Kimball to pass her on their way down.

“I’ll see you then.” Vanessa made her way down the hall opposite where Allura needed to travel. She headed to the castle, watching a few of the soldiers wade around and begin to clean up, while others helped with the wounded.

Once in the castle, she made her way around to where the medical clinic was and found her Paladins along with Washington. She smiled softly as she heard them laughing, helping out the two older males with their wounds. “Everything okay in here?” Allura asked, moving closer.

“Yeah,” Hunk replied with a hum, standing up after he finished cleaning some of the wounds that Shiro and Wash hadn’t been able to quite get. “They’re tough, as is obvious. They’ll be fine after some rest and recovery.”

Shiro smiled at his friend, turning to the scarred blond beside him. “I was just telling them about this guy’s plan before shit hit the fan.” He gently nudged Wash’s side, to which said man groaned – not in pain, but in embarrassment.

“It ended up working, at least.” He shrugged, looking up to those around him. “How are the others?” The question was sent to Allura.

She smiled at him. “Tucker and the rest are fine. They made it out almost unscathed. It seems that Tucker is mostly just scared for your safety. Did you say something to him before all that happened?”

Washington went a bit pale at the information and shifted his gaze away from hers. “Yeah, and it’s probably something I should talk to him about. Even if it means I may end up with one last friend.”

“I’m sure whatever happened, he won’t stop being your friend because of it.” She assured, mostly because she was fairly certain of how the dark skinned man felt about Wash. “But speaking of friends, Kimball wants us to meet her and the Reds and Blues in the command center soon. Are you two able to stand?”

Washington gave a nod, as did Shiro. The two stood, supported by the taller Paladins at their sides.

“Alright, we can take our time. If you guys need to rest, just let us know.” The princess looked them over, making sure that they would if they needed it.

It took them a while to pass through the destruction on the ground; those that were capable were watching their sides and backs to make sure there were no other enemies around. They reached command center around twenty minutes later and saw that Kimball had already gathered everyone else.

Upon seeing Washington, Caboose jumped up from where he was sitting and ran to the man, wrapping his arms around him. The blond was incredibly grateful that the larger man wasn’t wearing the top of his suit; otherwise he would almost be crushed. “Hey, Caboose. It’s good to see you too.” He pat his friends head gently, which only made him begin to cry.

“I was so afraid. I didn’t want to lose any of my other friends. Tucker said he didn’t know what happened to you and we couldn’t get ahold of you. I didn’t want to lose you after I lost Church.” He murmured, not wanting to let go of the older man quite yet.

“I’m sorry, Caboose. I wish I could have let you know I was okay sooner. I lost my comm in the explosion and then I had to get treated for my wounds.” He glanced over Caboose’s shoulder and caught sight of Tucker; the dark skinned man’s face was streaked with tears, though he tried his best to hide it. Caboose let him go a moment later and gently pulled him to the others. After getting gentle pats and happy notes that he was alive from the Reds, he made his way to Tucker and his sister.

Carolina quickly pulled him close, partially wanting to hit him upside the head, but also realizing he had enough wounds to deal with, that adding another would not be a good idea. “You kept your promise at least.” She murmured, glad that she still had at least one member of her family left. The redhead let go after a few moments and moved to let Tucker take her spot.

“You’re an idiot.” The teal clad man said easily, a slight scowl on his face.

“I know,” Wash replied, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at his friend. “Look, about what I said –”

Tucker’s lips on his own cut off the rest of what he would have said. The kiss lasted only a few moments, though it was obvious by the soft cheering that their friends had been expecting this. Wash, however, had not been expecting it.

They pulled apart and the scarred man could only stare, mouth hanging open slightly. Tucker chuckled at the sight. “Before the line cut out, what was it you were going to say?” He teased, raising an eyebrow.

Washington rolled his eyes and gave a soft sigh. “I’m fairly sure you already know, with what you just did.”

“Couldn’t hurt to hear it, though.” He moved closer, wanting to be the only one to hear it.

The grey clad man gave another sigh, but relented. “I love you.” He looked at his friend after that and saw the wide smile that spread across his face.

“I love you too, idiot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still offering up to write another story. What I'll do is if any of you want me to write another story in the future, then I'll write it for you. Maybe a one-shot or a few chapters and any kind of story you want (fluff/drama/action/etc.) You can either send me a message with what you want, or write it in the comments. I'll do whatever stories I get as suggestions, with the condition that I have to know the show and characters - otherwise I can't do them justice.


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